For A Decade
by BG Sparrow
Summary: Pepper tells Tony about their upcoming anniversary at his Fourth of July party, but his intoxicated mind misinterprets her entirely. The morning after is no picnic either. Pepperony fluff. Pre-IM.
1. For A Decade

Hello! Alright, since I didn't extend my first TonyPepper oneshot, I had to write another. Here it is! Not much but fluff and fun I guess, and it satisfies the pepperony100 prompt number 74, 'Years' over at LJ. I _might_ do another, but it'd be a way's off; I'm getting to upload another big story I'm working on all summer. But trust me, if I get bored with that, I will always come write more of these two! Thanks for all who read and reviewed 'Extra Day, Extra Olive!' Glad you liked it and hope you enjoy this one, too. Read on!

x x x

**For A Decade**

The summer night sky was clear, filled with stars and the occasional burst of colorful fireworks. On the white beach below, yet another over-the-top Tony Stark party was taking place, all at his expense. Pepper had arched an eyebrow and stifled a laugh when he first told her he wanted to have an Independence Day 'barbeque' only three nights prior, but a lot of money made up for the short amount of time. That was just his style. The preparations and arrangements nearly sent Pepper up a wall – he wanted a bonfire, a cocktail bar, tiki torches, flamboyant décor, six pineapple upside down cakes, a sand sculpture, loud music, an imported chef, the list went on!

But now, as Pepper slowly strode the length of the beach, she felt at ease. Everything was running smoothly so far, granted her boss wasn't somewhere dying and she didn't know about it. Though he made her promise to have a few drinks enjoy herself, part of her mind had to always be prepared for some mishappening involving him to occur. But perhaps she would fret over it another time. She felt happily lost in the slight blur of the elements surrounding her. It was a unique peace she rarely indulged in.

The food and drinks were sensational (every drink alcoholic, of course). She held the remnants of her third appletini and breathed in the salty ocean air, her heels sinking into the sand with every step. Part of her wanted a fourth, or maybe a margarita with extra lime-

"Heeeey, Pepper!"

Startled, Pepper stopped in her tracks, Tony's drunken smile magically appearing before her with enough alcohol on his breath to knock her back a few steps in repulsion. If Pepper's distorted face was not indication enough of how far gone he was, the empty bottle of Bacardi in his hand had to be (not to mention all other drinks he had probably consumed in the last two hours). She glanced up at him uncertainly, beginning to feel nauseous from the overpowering stench of his breath.

"Erm," – she coughed with a grimace – "Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"Miss Potts, the scotch has been spiked, so you might- Whoa."

Pepper watched him stare at a passing server before burying her face in her hand to cough again. Tony dropped his empty Bacardi bottle to the sand carelessly and reached out to the passing tray, taking from it two glasses of champagne and two strawberries. As Pepper raised her head, he bit the whole of a strawberry and downed it with champagne smoothly, tossing the glass to the sand as well. Her expression was placidly astonished.

"Mr. Stark, are you well?" she asked warily after a moment under his glazed stare.

His response was moderately delayed due to his heavily intoxicated brain; he whimsically raised the other glass of champagne and dropped the strawberry into it, extending it to her suavely. Pepper gasped as the pale drink threatened to slosh out of the glass onto her gown.

"Hey, Pepper, take a walk with me," he said quickly, hooking his arm through hers and leading her towards the shoreline. She stumbled at first until she fell into step with him, looking back at one of her shoes abandoned in the sand.

"Mr. Stark-"

"Leave the shoes," he commanded boredly at her distress, keeping his pace towards the dark ocean. She had no choice but to follow, kicking her other shoe off to the side reluctantly. She hoped she's get them back.

At the water's edge, Tony showed no signs of stopping as if he were being defiant. Pepper glanced over at him with concern, hurrying to collect the hem of her gown before the sea water could ruin it.

"What are we doing?" she asked, her voice rising. "Hey! Tony, stop!"

He did not answer. Rather, he walked her right into the warm, shallow surf and came to an abrupt stop. She let out a small squeal of surprise, but Pepper felt it delightfully pleasant as the water rolled over her exhausted feet in welcome. A laugh escaped her as her body relaxed into the comfortable wind. She looked over at Tony, a Cheshire cat grin on his profile. The corner of her mouth tugged into a smile.

"You've almost ruined my dress," she said, shaking a fist of aquamarine beside the top of her knee. His head rolled to the side, looking her up and down several times with glass eyes.

"Nice dress," he deadpanned, looking back out to the ocean. "Where'd you get it?"

Pepper smiled knowingly at him. "My skilled, intelligent, handsome employer bought it for me," she said. "It was his 'thank you' for making me plan a party last minute with no time to go dress shopping."

"Really?" Tony asked, speech somewhat slurred. "He sounds like the greatest person in the world."

"He very well may be," Pepper agreed amusingly as she looked out to the opaque water and sky. She sighed, eyes wandering to the strawberry in champagne in her other hand. There was no hope in drinking it; she'd have to let her gown fall victim to the water if she wanted to switch hands. She looked at their linked arms of bare skin and fine navy fibers, feeling reminded of something.

"Do you know what the day after tomorrow is?" she mused, fondly examining their contrasting forearms.

"Thirsty Thurdsay?" he asked hopefully. She gave him a look at which he searched for another answer. "Whipping Wednesday?"

"Mr. Stark…"

"Fondle Me Friday?"

Pepper's mouth fell open only to snap shut at his typical alcohol-induced banter. She looked back over at him as a twinge of hurt grew in her eyes, but he still waited expectantly for her to confirm 'Fondle Me Friday.'

"You've forgotten?"

Tony snorted loudly to her surprise.

"Sweetheart, by now, with you around, I've forgotten the days of the week," he said, causing her face to fall a little at the sad truth. "I only know what day it is if you tell me. It could be Spooning Sunday, but if you say it's Two Tequila Tuesday, I'd probably believe you."

Some disappointment arose in Pepper, but she knew him correct – she was his calendar, as well as his clock and to-do list. Always being bombarded with meetings and changes and travelling? She couldn't expect him to be too conscious of the swiftly passing days.

"So… what day it?" he asked, squinting at the pressure encasing his head. "The week after yesterday's… tonight or something? It's not Missionary Monday, is it?"

And he was drunk.

Still, Pepper smiled to the sand regretfully. "It's our anniversary," she said quietly.

Tony's head spun around to her sharply, direct. "Anniversary? When did we get married?"

Pepper looked away, her body traitorously reacting to the thought. Tony sighed overdramatically, suddenly feeling devastated at her reaction.

"I know," he whined, causing Pepper to look back at him in confusion. "I'm sorry, I just can't remember everything! That's why I have you! You do all that stuff and I expect you to and I'm such a self-righteous bastard for forgetting… damn it-"

Pepper shook her head quickly and tried to calm his unexpected upheaval. "Mr. Stark, it's okay."

"The hell it is!" he shouted incredulously, almost falling backwards. Pepper caught his back to steady him as he continued to ramble. "I forget _everything_ when I'm like this. I've cheated on you and you know I do and _that's _how insensitive_ I_ am."

"Hey! Tony!" she grabbed his chin a little harder than she meant to and made his darting eyes stay on hers (not one of her best ideas in retrospect) . "We aren't married," she said gently, easing her solid grip on his chin. She stroked his goatee a few times with a tiny apologetic smile.

Tony stared at her looking slightly irritated. She felt herself shrinking under his gaze; it still had an intense effect even when he was completely wasted. She finally dropped her hand from his face, meeting his eyes again as he tilted his head to the side curiously.

"Are we in Vegas?"

"No, sir, we are in Malibu."

"Because I swear I don't remember flying here." Pepper gave an exasperated sigh as he let out a light gasp. "We did one of those drive-thru weddings! God, I haven't done that in a long time…"

"No-"

"I got in annulled the next morning, so you're the only Mrs. Stark right now, I promise." He looked down at his foot, lifting it out of the water with a disgusted expression. "Good god, this casino is flooded. Somebody get a damn mop for Christ's sake."

"You're not in a casino! We-"

"We need a hotel room, exactly."

She gave him a level look, not that he could comprehend it. "There are no beaches in Las Vegas," she said firmly. His eyes stopped on her and narrowed challengingly to disprove her logic.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am positive," Pepper assured him, clearing her throat. Surprisingly, he seemed to be okay with that as she let her mind recover from the previous chaotic conversation. After a minute of feeling him sway absentmindedly beside her, she looked back up at him.

"The day after tomorrow will be ten years to the day that I became your assistant," she murmured quietly with a smile. It was in vain to tell him since he would never remember in such a drunken stupor, but something made her feel obligated to bring it to his attention.

He raised his eyebrows high, a rush of rancid air escaping his lungs. "Ten _years_? You've dealt with my sorry ass for _ten years_? Wooooow…"

"I know. It's a… long time," she said, perplexed as she watched him take the strawberry in champagne from her hand and down it. When the strawberry rested in his mouth, she reached up and took the glass from him despondently. "It's a _very_ long time," she added pointedly.

Tony chewed up the strawberry, spitting the leaves into the water unceremoniously. "So," – he spat again – "where… do you see yourself in another ten years?" he asked bleary-eyed.

Pepper laughed. It was a long way into the future to be thinking. She was quiet for a minute; she'd never worked everything out entirely. Life-changing events could happen anytime, so she hardly had concrete plans. She would be in her 40s. Would time be kind in aging her? Maybe she'd have a job or career change or meet someone… There were too many possibilities and, for that matter, outcomes.

"Well," she began slowly, "given that I remain an employee of Stark Industries and your assistant, I should be right where I am now." Pepper wasn't sure how the statement made her feel. Content? Treading water?

"Are you happy where you are now?" Tony asked, discarding the champagne glass to the ocean with a small splash. Pepper reflexively smiled, peeling her eyes away from the glass tumbling in the water and sand to look at him.

"Of course I am," she said. "It is… _almost_ always a pleasure to work for you."

"Then that should be enough for you," he said with a shrug as if it were common logic. At her silent nod, he felt a troubled pang drop into his stomach. "You… you don't _want_ to leave me, do you?"

Pepper glanced up at him. He made it sound like they were discussing divorce.

"No," she answered honestly. "I'd never _want_ to leave you, but some things down the road may be out of our hands. A lot can happen in another ten years, Tony. A lot."

"Like what?" he asked slyly.

"Your company could take a major turn in any direction, we could get married-"

"But we're already married," he said. She conjured all of her remaining patience if she were to keep herself calm and collected.

"I meant to other people," she clarified, now developing her own headache.

"Because maybe…" Tony craned his neck back to the cocktail bar, his words falling away. "Never mind. Let's get a mojito and I'll buy you a car and then we can properly commence this ten year anniversary with lots of hot beach sex."

"Tony-"

"I don't _care_ who's watching, they're just jealous because they can never be this drunk," he said, starting for the bar sluggishly.

"Ow! Tony!"

"What?"

He turned back around after twisting her arm the wrong way and collided with her, knocking her backwards into the shallow water. She sat in shock heaving out audible breaths, giving her boss the heated glare he deserved. Tony stared at her as if waiting for a dog to do a trick. Then, his eyes went wide.

"Holy shit, Pepper, you're more drunk than I am," he muttered, bending over to help her up. She sat there at a loss for words entirely, both from falling and his comment. How dare he make such a wild accusation! Regardless of how drunk he was… Okay, so she was drunk, but not beyond his capacity.

"Mr. Stark, I'm fine, just move," she said immediately after he wrapped his arms around her to pick her up.

"Mm, no, I gotch'ya," he said, sloppily pushing his arms under her knees and back.

"No, really! This is a bad idea!" Pepper shouted as he tried to lift her and the weighty dress from the molten sand and water.

"I only have genius ideas," he retorted. "Because I'm a genius. It's in the thesaurus."

Pepper's heart beat frantically as he lifted her out of the water about a foot. Just as she was about to hope and pray that he wouldn't drop her, he lunged forward and sent her clinging to him with a shriek. He planted a foot to catch the fall, though; Pepper slowly removed her face from his shoulder and met his eyes.

"You are fat," he said outright.

Pepper could feel his knees buckling beneath them. She shut her eyes tightly, shaking her head and biting her lip. "Don't you dare drop me, Tony Stark."

"You are so fat…"

"Don't you drop me…"

Tony tried to move his foot closer and stand more upright, Pepper squeezing his neck tightly and tensing her body against his for fear of falling. He made a few more gradual movements until he stood as straight as possible, triumphantly looking at Pepper's dazed expression.

"Did you know that Tony Stark can carry a cow?" he chuckled, looking around proudly at his current stance. Pepper was still attached to him, also glancing around, questioning the stability of his footing.

"Um, fascinating, now let me down," she said quickly, feeling her dress slip against his arm under her knees.

Instead of her request being fulfilled, Tony put her under his powerful, irresistible stare.

"You are a beautiful cow."

"Yes, I kn-" She did a double take. "What? Oh, no-"

Tony waggled his eyebrows (did she really see him do that?) and leaned towards her for a kiss, never minding his balance. Pepper felt gravity pulling him towards her and her towards the ground, and she let out another horrific yell before the warm water (and Tony) submerged her. Under his dead weight she kicked and pushed him up, gasping for air as she resurfaced.

She looked over at him as he shook the sand and water from his hair like a mutt, plastering her figure with more of it.

"Oh, Tony…"

Pepper pouted in defeat, part of her wishing to be far from this place in ten years, if only for a moment. Tony splashed more water around as he came near her, holding up his finger to speak, but he did not get a word out.

He passed out, falling face first into the water and sand beside her.

Pepper rolled her eyes before hurriedly lifting him out of the watery sand so he wouldn't drown, setting her mentality back into assistant mode to prepare for another long night of sobering him up.

"Come on, Mr. Stark," she said with motherly concern. He groaned as she threw his arm over her shoulder, struggled to stand, and decided to get him back to the house. "Come on, easy."

x x x

Tony retched for the umpteenth time, throwing himself over the toilet bowl. Pepper looked at him sympathetically from against the nearby wall, barely keeping her eyes open.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Her dehydrated muscles ached as she stretched to hand him a towel. Tony wiped his mouth sloppily before resting the side of his head on the toilet seat.

"I hate re- regurgi- puek," he breathed out above a whisper. "And the color fuchsia. It's a fucking annoying color."

Pepper's head lolled against the wall in exhaustion. "Don't… let your head fall into the toilet," she said, chuckling afterwards at how silly it had sounded. Though, it hadn't been funny the time it really did happen.

Tony's uneven breaths made him heave again, which made Pepper's stomach churn unfavorably. She winced, watching Tony hover over the toilet almost lifelessly. He was so wrong and arrogant and flawed and drunk, but she knew she'd never experience a night like this anywhere else, with anyone else.

"You need to get to bed," she said at length, not looking forward to the prospect of helping him (or moving at all) when she felt this awful.

"Hey! I'm still barfing up what remains of my liver over here," he drawled, putting his cheek to the cool porcelain again.

"Would you like… some aspirin and water?" she asked quietly, his image blurred and dizzy before her.

"Not- not yet," he panted. "I'll just yak it out like…" – he swallowed a terrible taste in his mouth – "ew… like everything else."

Pepper nodded, only just. Her eyes flickered shut unwillingly. "Okay."

Tony sat up a little, feeling very alone when he saw her eyes close.

"Pepper? Pepper?"

He couldn't speak any louder, and it made him angry. His stomach gave another forewarning lurch as he watched her slide over on her side to the floor in a motionless heap. He'd officially broken her after ten years.

Not bad.

"No more anniversaries for you," he said to her in the best authoritative manner her could muster. He was going to wake up on this bathroom floor tomorrow because she had to go and pass out before putting him to bed. "Not, at least, when...you are n- can't…"

He stopped, pushed through his jumbled words, and took a deep breath.

"Don't you ever get shitfaced at the same time as me again, or we're getting divorced. And I _will _keep Jarvis," he said before sliding off the toilet to the floor.

**. Please Review .**


	2. For Another Decade

All right, so I wrote this part up forever ago and posted on Livejournal and forgot to put it here. I just got done watching Iron Man after buying the DVD and remembered! This is kind of a second part to 'For A Decade,' but I like to viw them seperately but linked. Anyways, enjoy! thanks to you all again for the reviews on the first part! :)

x x x

**For Another Decade**

The world did not exist beyond his pillow; Tony's face was pressed into its comfortable down lifelessly, his mouth twitching the muscle under his nose involuntarily as an inkling of consciousness awoke within him. His head felt weighty, exhausted, and spent, compliments of a heavy night of drinking. It was a murky darkness that surrounded him, like a dense, foggy water that had him trapped under a thick net and suspended him indefinitely in confined space. Though, wriggling and flexing his toes against the cool sheets and sensing sunlight through his eyelids, he felt very content and satisfied to know that his mattress may actually have a Tony Stark-shaped depression in it as sound as he had slept.

He belched something rancid under his breath, and it made him scrunch his nose in repulsion at the toxic smell bouncing off of his pillow and back into his face. It smelled like scotch, whiskey, assorted fruits (apples, oranges, maybe mango or strawberry), Bacardi, vodka… wow, _a lot_ of Bacardi… champagne? His hazy mind fought to remember the night before; he usually could recall a night just by his drinking palette alone these days.

There was a beach, he knew that much. Two hot brunettes at the bar, lots of people, fireworks-

Everything was now dumping back into his memory bank. Oh, _everything_. His stomach grumbled portentously, the deep sound sounding like it had no source whatsoever. He wondered how he had gotten from the bathroom to his bed; Pepper had been with him, but she bit the dust before he did. She must have woken up af-

He felt his right arm move, not at his discretion. He felt that the extremity was wrapped around something – someone – and he slowly lifted his head an inch or so, eyes fluttering open curiously, bewildered. Who-?

Tony's half-opened eyes stared at an unexpectedly familiar shade of red hair crowning over his pillow top, and he tried a thousand times in one second to convince himself that he was just drunk, his eyes were playing tricks on him, and that something was wrong. Very – wrong. He cautiously peered over the pillow a little more, actually afraid of whom he'd see and why, oh why, she would be there. He froze after another inch and gave his eyes reason to open all the way; his ever-faithful Miss Potts was sound asleep beside him, the blankets tucked under her bare arms revealing not but two thin lavender silk straps loosely looped over either shoulder.

Tony admitted to himself long ago that it was a lie to deny he had never thought or dreamt about this situation, but in all of his little daydreams usually held more excitement, eagerness, and sheer lust. Now, however… He felt denied all of it. Anxiety instead of excitement, fear instead of eagerness, guilty shame (_shame!_) in place of all the lust he could ever hope to have and hold. He couldn't move or comprehend it. How – in the _hell_ – did this happen? What even happened? Did he-? She let him-?

He felt himself go sick to his stomach with a flood of guilt for some reason. When his tired conscience asked him why, his alarmed yet tainted shoulder angel shouted back 'because this is my assistant! This is _Pepper Potts_!' as if that explained everything. And it did! She'd never let him… do… whatever he did. Even if they were both drunk. And he'd never actually make her do something she didn't really want to do because… well, he wasn't completely devoid of gentlemanlike manners. He had a shoulder angel right? So it _was_ tainted, but he had one!

And it was kicking the devil's ass and all his desire out of him.

"Oh shit," he breathed just above a whisper, heart pulsing in his throat.

Carefully, he slowly began an attempt to uncurl his arm from around her and make a run for it, but the miniscule motion triggered her to inhale deeply and reposition herself, sliding her arm over his to secure its place from one hip to the other. Tony held his breath wide-eyed even after she stopped moving, his mouth slack at how distractingly pleasant and disarming of a sensation it brought him to feel her hand run over his arm. Every hair on his body stood on end.

Even more so when her other hand, concealed under the cover of the sheets, reached out and touched his bare side (_he was shirtless, too?!_), gently clutching at it once. A shiver went over him for more than one reason, but he felt it start with a piece of cool metal on his skin where her hand came to rest. A horrific thought occurred to him. He pulled his free arm up, ready to bravely look under the blanket (he could at least feel that he was wearing pants, thank God; he couldn't vouch for the decency of Pepper's attire), but he stopped.

A glimmer of gold caught off the morning sun brilliantly, its shine wrapping all the way around his finger. He stared at it hard. He concentrated on it dutifully as if it might actually just go away. His face registered a trace of panic, his breaths short and concise through his nose. His dry lips were firmly shut, pressed together hard in determination to dispel all of this unexplainable… whatever the hell was going on.

Tony looked over at Pepper swallowing a lump only a fraction of the way down his throat.

He… He _married _her? Her married _her?_ She _let_ him?!

He glanced around his bedroom, trying to find some train of logic to tie it all together. _Had_ they been in Vegas and just flew back in record time? He'd have to kill Happy for actually driving them through the drive-thru chapel. Just… just really hurt him.

"Mmm…"

As calm as a purr it was that came from Pepper, Tony nearly jumped out of the bed. He watched in astonishment as her eyes took their time to ease open and adjust to the light before looking right at him peacefully. Tony remained rigid, a look too innocent to be anything but guiltily plastered on his face in defense. He saw her raise her hand and shut his eyes tightly, waiting for a well-deserved stinging pain to swell on his cheek, but it never came. He merely heard her chuckle and adjust the blanket around her before sheepishly opening an eye.

"What are you doing?" she asked, rolling on her side to properly face him. His mouth was incredibly dry all of the sudden, making him try to choke up some words for her.

"I… I don't know," he answered in complete honesty, looking at the length of her nervously. Even under a blanket she was so exposed and vulnerable to his dangerously charming ensnarement, and though part of him _loved_ it to no end that he was seeing her like this, it was _all – wrong._

"Umm, I… I think I overslept," he finally managed, propping himself up on his elbow and staring at the utopian scene outside his window. "It's… the sun is up," he said rather unintelligently, pointing at it. "I have an appointment or meeting or something today, like in five minutes, right? Should I be going?"

Tony made to leap out of the bed, but Pepper laughed again, controlling his entire body with the simple grasp of her hand still draped over his arm.

"Calm down," she said, nestling back down into the pillows with him. "You don't have anything major today; your schedule's clear all except for the party tonight." She looked at him with tender concern. "I didn't think you'd be up so soon. You were really sick last night."

_Party. Party?_ Tony shook his head. Unimportant right now.

His face fell as he looked at her, chest heaving. He was sick, and in more ways than one. "Christ, Pepper, what did I do? What did I do?" he repeated weakly, falling on his back and rubbing his face.

"You ate too much watermelon. More than I did."

"I know, I was so dru-" He paused, looking over a t her sharply. "Watermelon? I hate watermelon. Why would I eat it? Why would _you _eat it? I thought that was a mutual hate for us ?"

Pepper's head fell to the side. She looked to be disappointed about something, but whatever it was, she must have decided to let it pass for the time being. A smile eventually came to her. "It was cute, actually. I had a huge craving for it, but by the time you got back with four watermelons I hardly wanted any, so you ate two whole ones to make me feel better before you ran for the bathroom… "

None of this made sense. He tried to shove that glaring fact aside and stay active in whatever present he was in, his mind forcing the taste of watermelon into his mouth to give him an ill sensation (not that he wasn't feeling ill enough already). He looked back at Pepper ready to smooth over the gaping holes in his knowledge with characteristic ease, but it wasn't happening. He swallowed again as her hand moved along his side with light, absentminded strokes. His mind clung to one of the words in her last vertigo of information, puzzling him further.

"Hang on," he said, shutting his eyes with a brief smile. "You _craved_ watermelon?"

"I was just as surprised!" she said excitedly. "Remember?"

Tony huffed out a laugh, looking away. "Bad word to use right now, Pepper." Not only was his head pounding from all this bombardment, but he threw in, "I just woke up."

"I thought you'd sleep a little longer," she said, her face falling sympathetically. Her hand left his arm and fitted itself in the crook of his neck, sending an electric charge of longing through his veins. He really wanted to see what she was wearing now. His eyes stayed glued to the curve of the blanket tightly drawn to her chest as he spoke.

"Me too," he said distantly, forgetting for a second what he was agreeing to. Deciding to try his luck in such a strangely ideal position, Tony applied a small pressure to her hip to bring her closer to him, eyes lighting up with wonder to see that she would move at his request. He wanted more. He punched the puff of pillow between them down with his cheek, putting his face close enough to hers that he could feel her soft exhales tingle on his face.

Oh, it was _soooo_ good.

Even better when he felt Pepper's leg entwined with his. He slid his leg against hers ever so slowly while trying not to visibly enjoy it too much. He shut his eyes and inhaled deeply, telling his psyche to calm itself, like he was in a secret disguise he couldn't afford to let her know about.

"I'm not sure I want to know what I'll be craving next," Pepper said to the ceiling despondently, graciously sidetracking his train of thought that was instilling lust back in his eye for her. He quirked an eyebrow.

"Next?"

"Hmph. Who knows," she mused before turning back to him with a chuckle. "I'm sure it won't be as odd as when I wanted only white gummy bears."

Tony had a feeling in this alternate present that he had eaten many bags of gummy bears just to give her a plethora of white ones, because he was pretty sure he'd do a thing like that for her if she really asked him to. She put up with all his outlandish requests anyways, didn't she?

He gave her a look. "These cravings aren't like a condition you're developing or anything, are they?" he asked quickly, ready to make a mental note of more information he was without. She smiled.

"More like part of the condition I'm in," she said with a smirk, brushing some of her hair away from her face. "I think I want something spicy for breakfast, though."

Tony blinked as if he had misheard her. "What now?"

"Spicy," she repeated. "Like eggs and salsa. With some Tabasco. "

Tony gave her a look as his mind snagged on her choice of breakfast, but she shrugged, more than likely accustomed to his reactions. He really wished he could know how much time had passed, especially now that she was thoughtlessly throwing around the word 'craving.' His mind was attacking the small knowing dread with heavy denial as his thoughts progressed into those of the unreasonably illogic. He sat up more in desperate need for a date to anchor him.

"Jarvis?!" he shouted quickly.

No casual disembodied voice replied. His mind went fuzzy as Pepper sat up beside him, casting him an apprehensive look at the distress in his tone. Tony's eyes darted about disquietedly.

"Jarvis?! Jarvis, answer me!"

"Tony, what's wrong?"

"I said now!"

"Tony, he's probably not awake yet," Pepper said, placing a calming restraint on his hand. "Maybe he can't hear you-"

"And why can't he hear me?" Tony half-laughed. "My own-"

"Why are you yelling like that?" she asked as her eyes searched his face with genuine concern. It made his heart beat faster, scaring him to know that not even Jarvis remained constant. He stared at Pepper wordlessly for a moment as his brain continued to fry and frazzle in all of this salvo.

"I want to hear Jarvis's voice right now," he said clearly, nodding a time or two to his confused assistant (wife, whatever). "Where is-?"

"Daddy?"

Tony's head jerked to the doorway abruptly, and he instantly felt winded. A young boy in a white tank top and red shorts stood in the shadow of the hallway, timidly stepping to the edge of the bedroom. Pepper looked over at Tony, dismissing his alert stare with a sigh as she looked back at the boy.

"It's okay, sweetie," she said as the four-year-old took tiny, carefully steps into the room under Tony's stern, fixed gaze of shock. "Daddy had a long night. He's okay."

Tony's eyes fluttered in disbelief. The words tore through him with no mercy, shaking him to the core.

He continued to stare at the boy, examining every single aspect of him for the first time as he made his way over to Pepper's side of the bed. He… he looked just like him. _Just_ like him, down to the dark disheveled hair and nose. Though, the boy had the wonderful blue eyes only Pepper herself held claim to. Tony couldn't believe it; he was going insane to witness this, this miraculous creation of his – theirs – climb right up into the bed in Pepper's arms. His AI was… was his…

The word was too taboo to even think. He thought his head might explode if he did.

He felt like Geppetto with Pinocchio running around in his head screaming at the top of his lungs 'I'm a real boy!' One of the many movies he thought ridiculous as a child had come back to haunt him.

Pepper repositioned the child on her lap glanced from him to Tony levelly in his moment of silent panic. Realizing he was still staring, Tony took a deep breath as a smile broke onto his face of pure disbelief.

"Good morning," he said breathlessly, giving the boy's small fingers a light squeeze. It was the most powerful thing he felt he had ever created, even if he did not recall doing so. Pepper conjured a pacified smile again between the two of them.

"You look like you've been awake for a while," she said to the boy Tony still had a hard time labeling 'Jarvis.' It was okay to name an AI that, but an actual person? What did Jarvis mean for a person anyways? Just A Really Very Intelligent Son?

"Were you out in the living room?" he heard Pepper say distantly.

The boy nodded with a large grin. Tony's stomach plummeted for the umpteenth time; everything this child did just amazed him, _fascinated_ him, made him think an entirely different way than he ever had before. Pepper giggled.

"Yeah? How about some breakfast?" she asked.

"Count Chocula!"

"Mmm, Count Chocula," she laughed, grabbing a robe from beside her. Tony blinked as the boy hopped of the bed and Pepper stood, sliding blue silk over purple silk. At the angle she was standing, Tony felt his face go numb as he stared slack-jawed at the unmistakable makings of a baby bump.

_Two_ kids? _Seriously? _

She turned back to the bed, Tony not sure he had the power to move a hundredth of an inch.

"Coming?"

"Y- Yeah," he said dumbfounded, demanding himself to pull out of the trance. He quickly looked around for a shirt, finding a navy blue T frumpled up on the floor beside him. He stood, shook it out, and threw it on just in time to watch Jarvis (_watch_ Jarvis? He could do that now?) patter out of the room barefoot. Pepper stopped halfway between the bed and the door, looking back at him.

"Do you want eggs and salsa or Count Chocula?" she asked with a playful smile. He smoothed out the front of his shirt and adjusted the waistband of his sweatpants as he walked towards her with a curious thought.

"They still make Count Chocula?"

"_And_ Frankenberry," she laughed.

He stopped at the doorway, not sure if he could go out in that hall. It would be too final. He would be accepting the reality that he was married to his assistant, and they had a – a son (there, he at least had the gumption to think it) that was his AI-turned-human (or just named after the absent AI). Oh, and there was another kid on the way! Was he still CEO of Stark Industries? What if he wasn't? What if there were other children out in the house that were his and he actually had _more_ than two?

Pepper turned around again, giving him an odd look as he stared at her wide-eyed from the precipice of the bedroom. "Are you coming, Tony?"

"Actually, that… watermelon is getting to me again," he said. He didn't have to try very hard to look ill or feel dizzy. "I'm just gonna," – he pointed in the direction of the bathroom in the bedroom – "you know, go… in there. Could you-? Just, just give me five minutes."

Pepper hurried back to him with concern. Her fingers touched his forehead and pressed through his hair willingly, and Tony thought of how wonderfully insane it made him feel. "Are you all right? I'll get you some water and some Pepto."

"No!" he said in outrage (how long had he been taking Pepto Bismal now?). "No, I'm just going to go get a shower and hopefully feel better." He tried to convince himself more than her, but it wasn't exactly working. He still felt uneasy and turned on at how casual and intimate her touches could innocently be. Perhaps he should take advantage of this situation, just in case he wasn't stuck here forever.

Tony smiled at her. "Wanna scrub my back and other hard-to-reach spots?"

"Jarvis needs breakfast," she said, her swollen stomach separating them more than he liked. A hint of mischief glimmered in her eye. "Maybe I'll come check on you once I get him something to eat?"

Oh, how that look summarized all that she was. Tony nodded. "That sounds devious and kinky and I love it."

Pepper's cheeks flamed as she walked out of the bedroom, leaving him to his shower.

A cold shower?

No, Tony didn't think he could handle it at the present time (which shocked him more than anything). His mind in a typhoon of confusion and bewilderment, Tony staggered towards the bathroom clutching his stomach. He wished something as miniscule as watermelon was the cause of all this stressful anxiety as opposed to what life awaited outside the bedroom. He shut the door and turned on the fan and light, leaning against the sink in front of the toilet forebodingly.

He looked at the wall under the window. Pepper was there just last night, not four, five, ten, or however many years ago. Laying there as drunk as he was, making sure he was okay, passing out before he himself did. Thoughts slowly came back regarding arguing over an anniversary she had mentioned.

'_It's our anniversary.'_

'_Anniversary?'_

Whatever anniversary it was, the word alone, along with others such as 'craving' and 'son,' made him groan and head into the shower.

For the better part of twenty-five minutes he just stood under the welcome stream of hot water. It felt cleansing and revitalizing, but it also felt ineffective and hard on his skin. He kept his eyes shut, staying rooted in place as he swayed a little. The sound of the water was hypnotic and drowsy, but not so much a relief on his frazzled nerves.

'_You're a beautiful cow.'_

'_Fondle Me Friday.'_

_He was carrying her out to sea in Vegas._

God. Tony still thought he was drunk.

When he finally came to the conclusion that the shower was doing nothing to improve his panicked state and one of the worst hangovers ever, he turned off the water and stepped out.

"Holy shit!"

And he jumped right back in.

Quickly, he covered himself with the shower curtain and peered around the corner of the shower. He blinked several times, convinced he was hallucinating. But the image did not go away or alter at all. Under the window against the wall was Pepper in her gorgeous aquamarine dress. Her hair was messy and clumped from air drying wet, and her face was pushed into the floor in the same drunken heap he remembered her falling into.

He stared at her. There was… no way.

Tony looked at his hand to try and outsmart whatever entity or force that was messing with his realities, but his golden wedding band was gone. Horrified, he looked at the other hand. It was bare. He spun around the shower a few times, looking around shampoo and body wash, shaking his washcloth as if it might magically fall out, but it was gone. He looked back out at his unconscious wife (assistant?) defiantly.

Ripping the shower curtain down absentmindedly and wrapping it around his body, Tony went over to her and picked up her hand, searching in vain for the huge diamond she was just wearing while laying beside him out in his bed. He dropped it and grabbed for her other hand as she stirred and sat up slowly in confusion.

"Hmmph? Oh, JESUS!" Pepper sprang to life, pressing herself against the wall frantically as her boss examined her hand dripping wet, naked, and wrapped in a shower curtain. She pulled her hand away and tried to stand, but she slid back to the floor under his calm stare. "Tony Stark, what are you doing?!" she shouted.

He blinked at her.

She was his assistant.

She _wasn't_ his wife.

Anymore.

…Yet?

"I am _very_ confused right now," he said slowly with a nod. Her abashed expressions softened slightly to know she wasn't in immediate danger or had been in the shower with him seeing as she was still dry.

"You most certainly are!" Pepper agreed, still trying to figure out why he was wearing his shower curtain. "We aren't married!"

He gave her a look that looked somewhat disheartened to hear it said aloud. "I know." He suddenly raised his eyebrows and pointed at her as he sat down in front of her. "But in another life, I have a feeling we would be."

Pepper's head hurt. _Why_ was he just sitting there in a shower curtain like it was no big deal?! Her head spun itself silly with the awful smell of alcohol passing on each breath she took, and she was shouting crazy things about being married to Tony. Which, she wasn't! She sighed in exhaustion, barely able to keep herself upright again. Tony was waiting for her to bite the dust a second time.

"Pepper? Pepper?" She rolled her head against the wall until her sinking eyelids lined up with his eyes. "Hey, you want some coffee? Breakfast?"

"Water," she managed as Tony stood and helped her up carefully. She looked over at him and away, shaking her pounding head. "Why are you wearing your shower curtain?" she whined as they passed out of the bathroom, bedroom, and into the hall.

"I'll tell you when you feel up to it," he promised. When they reached the living room, Tony sat her down on the couch, turned on the TV, and handed her the remote. "Do you want something small to eat, too?"

"Not if you're cooking in the shower curtain," she said, half of her face in her hand. "Please go put some clothes on."

"Right."

In the two minutes that it took Tony to get dressed, he had himself convinced that he would round the corner into the kitchen and find Pregnant Pepper and Real Boy Jarvis eating breakfast just so his fucking mind would explode from confusion. Not sure what was happening anymore, he stuck to the plan to make Pepper breakfast for now. He got a glass of water from the sink in his bathroom and came back to the living room, but Pepper was already stretched across the couch sleeping again.

x x x

Pepper inhaled deeply, her eyes opening on the muted weather report as the remnants of a sundown glowed shards of intense oranges and reds between the darkening night sky and ocean. She sat up, groaning to see that she was still in her dress from the night previous when she saw the arm wrapped around her waist. She looked over her shoulder accusingly, but Tony's face was dormant, lopsided into the back of the couch.

A smiled touched her lips. She longed for a good shower, but she wanted nothing more than to stay where she was. Pepper lay back down gently, the lights of the house dimming as she sighed.

"Thank you, Jarvis."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Stark."

She shot up, glaring overhead and then down at Tony. His lips then quirked into a smile, and she grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, jerking him out of his false sleep immediately.

"What?! _What_ did he just call me?!"

"It was a joke, Pepper, calm down!" Tony laughed, jerking his sleeve from her grasp. She collapsed with a sigh of relief against the couch, and he pulled her back towards him. "You didn't find that funny?"

"Only you would take marriage as a joke, Mr. Stark."

He reached for a bowl on the coffee table and handed it to her. She looked at the soggy chocolate cereal and milk questionably.

"What is that?"

"Your breakfast I got you this morning after you fell asleep," he said, turning up the television. "It's Count Chocula." Pepper squinted at it with a smile.

"They still make Count Chocula?"

Tony looked at her knowingly as she picked up a spoonful of the cereal and let fall back into the bowl.

"_And_ Frankenberry."

**. Please Review .**


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